The last week of term is busy for any school, and Five Oaks was no different. Last minute projects filled every spare minute of Kate's work day and twice she almost worked through lunch, only avoiding doing so because Leanne tapped her on the shoulder as she left the office. There were timetables for the new students coming in September to sort out; next year's school planner to proofread and edit; end of year reports to format, print, and send out to parents; and so much more. Kate worked tirelessly, desperate to avoid having to come in at the start of the summer holidays to finish off any work she didn't get done in time.

Outside of her work she spent her lunches with Max in a strange emotional limbo, unsure of whether she was relieved or sad to have six weeks without his company. Since she had walked away from the romantic branch of their relationship, Kate had been able to fully embrace their friendship and was undoubtedly happy about that. But as time passed, and especially in this final week of work before the summer break, something had begun to feel... off in their interactions. Not wrong-off, just different. And strangely enough, she somehow knew it was coming from Max, not herself. A funny expression at the end of a joke as they both laughed. Something different about the way he smiled as they greeted each other. The occasional look like he was going to say something, and then changed his mind at the last minute. A couple of times, she'd even asked him if he was ok, if there was something going on that he needed to talk about. But Max had only done a curious, light laugh in response and replied that he was fine. Kate decided to drop the issue. If she needed to know, she was sure he'd tell her.

Friday was the worst day of the week. The summer holidays were so close, yet so far. Just gotta get through today, Kate thought to herself as she glanced up at the clock. Time was dragging on so slowly she could've sworn the clock was going backwards. School was finishing at lunchtime to signal the start of the holidays, and as the bell rang and students poured into the hallways in a clamour of excited chatter Kate longed to join them. But work would still go until 4:30pm for her, and so she moved against the flow of departing students like a fish swimming upstream until she reached the sanctuary of the staff room.

"How have you beaten me here every single day this week?!" Kate asked as she sat down next to Max, pretending to pout.

"I dunno. I just hear the bell and wander down." He replied with a shrug and a smile.

They passed the time with small talk as they both ate, until Max asked, "So, what are you doing during the holidays?"

"More volunteering is the only thing I've really got planned. And I'll be going home for a visit at some point, to see my sister and her new baby, but I'm not sure when that'll be yet."

"That sounds nice. I bet you're excited."

"Mhmm. I've not been around a lot of babies to be honest, so part of me is a little worried she's going to hand him to be and I'll just hold him like a hot potato, going 'okay now what?'"

Max laughed. "I'm sure you'll be fine. He'll probably be a bit less potato-ey by the time you go to visit so it won't be as awkward."

"I'm glad someone's confident about it." Kate said with a small smile, "What about you? You said a couple more of your friends had got back in touch, right?"

"Yeah, they did!" Max sat up straighter, his face lighting up, "It's still only about five of us from the original dozen or so, but it's been really good to reconnect. It's made me realise how much I took them all for granted before, and how much I missed hanging out with them all. We're going to go hiking in a few weeks' time."

Kate raised her eyebrows, "You've never struck me as the hiking type, no offense."

"None taken, because I'm not." Max shook his head in disbelief with a smile, "One of the guys is though, and he's been dying to take us all up a mountain for pretty much the entire time we've known each other. With everything that happened, we all felt pretty generous and gave in to his begging at last, and 'delighted' isn't a strong enough word to describe his reaction. I can't even remember where he said he wanted to take us, all I know is we're going to all pile into a car, drive goodness knows how many hours away, and stay in a hotel for a week while he takes us on his favourite hikes. We convinced him to break us in slowly." He laughed and looked over at Kate, "I've literally never done this level of hiking before in my life, so if you don't see me back here in September just go to the nearest mountain and pay respects to my body."

Kate snorted at his morbid joke and solemnly promised she would do so, barely holding back giggles as she did. Once their laughter had faded away Kate turned back to the last few bites of her lunch, still smiling. When Max didn't fill the silence she looked over to see him staring into the distance without really looking at anything, as if deep in thought.

"You good?"

Max blinked a few times as he turned to look at her, quickly trying to mask the look on his face with a lopsided smile as he said, "Yeah. I was just thinking about how I'm going to miss our lunches together."

"Me too." Kate replied, trying to make her smile as open and inviting as possible. Max's change of expression had been a fraction too slow to cover the look on his face just now, and now Kate knew there was something going on he wasn't telling her. But she had promised herself she wouldn't ask, that she would wait for him to let her know what was on his mind. So, as desperate as she was to ask, Kate reluctantly bit her tongue and didn't pry.

Although the students had gone home already, the school bell still rang on it's timer to signal the end of lunch. Everyone began to pack up their things, and Kate and Max said their goodbyes before heading to their respective offices. The next few hours passed even more slowly than the morning had, and by the time the work day ended Kate almost felt as though her eyes were strained from constantly flicking over to check the time. As she finally packed up her things, she, Leanne, Kim, and Paula good-naturedly grumbled over the fact that they would still be coming in on Monday to really wrap things up for the summer.

Kate looked up at Leanne to say something when she noticed her looking out the window on the door of their office with a knowing smile as she said, "Looks like you've got a visitor, Kate."

Kate turned to look through the door and saw Max leaning on the wall opposite, looking down at his phone. "He probably just didn't want to disappear for the summer without saying goodbye," she casually suggested.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that's all it is," Paula replied in a way that definitely implied there was more to his presence than a simple goodbye.

Kate shook her head and rolled her eyes, not willing to argue when she was so close to finally escaping what had been one of the longest work days of her life. "See you guys on Monday."

Their farewells echoed behind her as she left the office. At the sound of the door opening, Max's head snapped up from his phone and a dazzling smile appeared on his face.

"Hey!" Kate greeted him, shutting the door behind her and stepping out into the hallway.

"Hey. Figured I'd come and say a proper goodbye for the summer since I didn't really do that at lunch." After an awkward pause, Max gestured towards the door and the two of them stepped outside and began to head towards the school gates. He continued, "I wondered if you wanted a lift home? The bus can't be pleasant with it being this hot."

"You're not wrong," Kate said, already taking her cardigan off as the sun's rays beat down on her, "I'll take a ride home. Thanks."

"You're very welcome," Max replied as they reached his car.

Kate couldn't help but wince at the noise the car made when Max turned the key in the ignition, "Please tell me you're not taking your car on that hiking trip. It may kill you before the exercise does."

"Rude. But no, we're not. It's booked in at the garage on Monday, hopefully whatever's going on can be fixed. I really can't afford a new car right now. Well, I could, just not a good one."

"You might have to join the ranks of us bus peasants."

Max clapped a hand to his chest in mock horror before grinning, his eyes still on the road. He paused to ask Kate which way to turn at a junction before asking, "There's a question though: why don't you have a car? I don't think I've ever asked. You can drive, right?"

"I can," she replied, "I just don't really need a car right now. Yes, it'd make going to see my family easier, but that's really the only reason I'd want one. I can walk or get the bus anywhere else. It's more environmentally friendly too."

"Fair enough." Max shrugged, "Can't imagine it for myself though, I think I'd just get annoyed having to wait for the bus instead of just getting in the car and going wherever."

After a few more minutes, they arrived at Kate's house. "Home sweet home," he announced.

"Not for much longer," Kate quietly replied, elaborating after Max gave her a questioning look, "I made a new friend volunteering, Eve, and her last roommate moved out so she invited me to move in."

"I think you've mentioned her before... she's the tall goth one, right?" Kate nodded in confirmation, "Cool. When do you go?"

"This weekend actually. I've been packing all week."

"Wow!" Max exclaimed, taken by surprise, "You don't waste any time, huh?"

Kate gave a vague shrug in response, and a tense few seconds passed as they each waited for the other person to speak.

Eventually, Kate broke the silence, "Well, thanks for the ride. Enjoy your hiking trip."

"Thanks. Don't be a stranger over the summer, okay?" Max took a breath like he was going to keep going as Kate 'mhmm-ed', making her pause halfway out the car, but he let out a breathy laugh instead. "See you round, Kate."

She climbed the rest of the way out the car, saying, "See you," as she shut the door behind her. Max rolled his window down and waved as he drove away, his car rattling slightly as it disappeared down the hill out of sight.

Kate went inside and ascended the stairs to her room. Flopping down on her bed, she lay looking at the ceiling and consciously relaxed all her muscles. I did it, she thought proudly. She'd made it through the school year. It felt strangely like closing a huge book when you finished reading it, both relieved and sad for it to be over. Still lying on her back, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked around her room. She couldn't relax for long, there was far too much to pack for her move that weekend.

With a sigh, Kate got up from her bed and changed into more comfortable clothes to resume packing. The school year might have been over, but that didn't mean there wasn't still work to be done.